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North Korea: Policy Determinants, Alternative Outcomes, U.S. Policy Approaches

Description: North Korea is undergoing a wrenching phase of adjustment to an uncertain post-Soviet world. Its government is reined in by two major constraints: fear that any political or economic reform would have the same fatal consequence for itself as it had for the former Soviet Union and other erstwhile allies; and fear that the United States, South Korea, and other "enemies" would stop at nothing to overthrow the communist regime of the North. The United States has a major stake in the outcome of Nort… more
Date: June 24, 1993
Creator: Shinn, Rinn-Sup
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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China-U.S. Relations

Description: This report discusses the background information and most recent development in U.S.-China relations since mid-1996. The relations also have been marred by continuing allegations of Chinese espionage, ongoing controversy over human rights, charges that China continues to violate its non-proliferation commitments, controversy over the accidental NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, and renewed tensions over Taiwan. The report describes current issues in U.S.-China relations such as; … more
Date: June 5, 1998
Creator: Dumbaugh, Kerry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Japanese Companies and Technology: Lessons to Learn?

Description: American companies are facing increased competitive pressures from foreign firms. Many observers feel that U.S. firms lag behind their foreign competitors in the development, application, and marketing of new technologies and techniques. The Japanese industrial enterprise is characterized by a large proportion of private sector financing and many other factors, which this report analyzes at length. The question being debated by Congress is whether or not U.S. government programs and policies ar… more
Date: April 15, 1991
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Ecosystems, Biomes, and Watersheds: Definitions and Use

Description: This paper describes the meaning and applications of ecosystem and of the related terms watershed and biome. It discusses the pros and cons of all three as organizing principles for land management, and the major issues that are likely to arise in the debate over ecosystem management.
Date: July 14, 1993
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention: Federal Mandates for Local Government

Description: The federal Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act; as amended, established requirements for the detection and control of lead-based paint hazards in public and private housing. Only some local governments have implementation responsibilities, but all local governments are eligible for federal grants to establish poisoning prevention programs.
Date: September 11, 1998
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Restricting Softwood Log Exports: Policy and Legal Implications

Description: The Pacific Northwest is a major exporter of unprocessed softwood logs to foreign countries, such as Japan, that are often sold at premium prices. Consequently, some local mills have had difficulty obtaining unprocessed logs, which has contributed to the loss of timber industry jobs in the Pacific Northwest. Thus, many believe that exporting logs is the economic and moral equivalent of exporting U.S. jobs.
Date: August 13, 1993
Creator: Gorte, Ross W. & Thomas, Kenneth R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Japan and NAFTA

Description: Japan, as an issue, has entered the debate over U.S. approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in several ways. The Clinton Administration has argued that Americans should support NAFTA because if it fails to pass Congress, Japan will rush to negotiate a similar arrangement with Mexico. Proponents of NAFTA also have argued that since Japan opposes NAFTA (because of its presumed protectionism and the benefits it provides to North American businesses), it must be "good for Ameri… more
Date: November 12, 1993
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Department of Energy FY1999 Research and Development Budget: Description and Analysis

Description: This report focuses on the R&D programs. It divides the programs into four categories: energy resources R&D, science, national security R&D, and environmental quality R&D. Those categories, which approximate the way DOE has divided up its programs, are set up to keep similar research activities together.(1) R&D funding is concentrated in the first three. The report gives a description of the programs within each category including their research objectives and the activities where significant b… more
Date: November 23, 1998
Creator: Rowberg, Richard E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Section 401: Background and Issues

Description: Section 401 of the Clean Water Act requires that an applicant for a federal license or permit provide a certification that any discharges from the facility will comply with the Act, including water quality standard requirements. Disputes have arisen over the states' exercise of authority under Section 401. Until recently, much of the debate over the Section 401 certification issue has been between states and hydropower interests. A 1994 Supreme Court decision which upheld the states' authority … more
Date: October 4, 1998
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Superfund: A Brief Comparison of the Chairmen's Bills

Description: The chairmen of three subcommittees with jurisdiction over Superfund have introduced comprehensive reauthorization bills: Senator Bob Smith introduced S. 8 (the reported version is used here), Representative Sherwood Boehlert introduced H.R. 2727 (the subcommittee-approved version of March 11, 1998, is used here) and Representative Michael Oxley introduced H.R. 3000. This report compares the three bills, focusing on four disputed issues: liability, remedy selection, the role of the states, and … more
Date: April 13, 1998
Creator: Copeland, Claudia; McCarthy, James E.; Reisch, Mark & Tiemann, Mary
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Environmental Risk Analysis: A Review of Public Policy Issues

Description: This report describes and analyzes key issues and legislative options related to risk analysis and risk management at EPA and considers the potential impact of proposed legislative approaches on EPA's rule-making process and final regulations. The report describes the history of EPA's use of risk analysis and then summarizes and analyzes issues and legislative proposals for increasing such use. Legislative activities in the 105th Congress are described. A list of selected references and an appe… more
Date: July 15, 1998
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Japanese Officials' View of Relations with the Clinton Administration, May-June 1993

Description: Japanese officials interviewed for this project in May-early June 1993 were generally sanguine about relations with the United States at the start of the Clinton Administration, but the Administrations's strong emphasis on U.S.- Japan trade issues in recent months deepened their pessimism over the near term prospects of U.S.-Japan relations. They were uncertain whether U.S.- Japanese talks on trade issues prior to the Clinton-Miyazawa summit of July 1993 would reflect a basic change in U.S. tra… more
Date: June 14, 1993
Creator: Sutter, Robert G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Issues in the 106th Congress

Description: In the 106th Congress, no comprehensive activity on reauthorizing the Clean Water Act occurred, although a number of individual clean water bills were enacted. Other issues have been debated recently, such as reforming the law to provide regulatory relief for industry, states and cities, and individual landowners. The debate over many of these issues highlights differing views of the Act and its implementation by some who seek to strengthen existing requirements and others who believe that cost… more
Date: November 24, 1998
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Reauthorization in the 105th Congress

Description: In the 105th Congress, legislation to reauthorize the Clean Water Act was not been introduced, and no major House or Senate committee activity occurred. EPA and states' water quality inventories have identified wet weather flows (including agricultural runoff, urban storm water, and sewer overflows) as the largest remaining threat to water quality. EPA's clean water programs are now focusing to a large extent on solving wet weather pollution problems. These issues may be addressed legislatively… more
Date: October 29, 1998
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Environmental Protection Legislation in the 105th Congress

Description: The 105th Congress enacted tax provisions relating to Superfund brownfields sites, transportation- and defense-related environmental provisions, a border smog bill, EPA funding as well as reinstating the tax that supports the Leaking Underground Storage Trust Fund. There were various actions on regulatory reform, the budget resolution, appropriations, highway- and defense-related environmental provisions, Superfund reform bills and underground storage tanks. It is too early to tell if these wil… more
Date: November 9, 1998
Creator: Lee, Martin R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Asia's Reaction to NAFTA

Description: NAFTA raises potential economic and political issues for U.S. relations with Asian countries for whom the agreement presents uncertainties regarding the future of their market opportunities in North America. As countries not associated with a preferential trading arrangement of their own, Asian countries are concerned that a trend toward regional trade agreements may affect the capacity of multilateral institutions to protect their global trading interests. This report examines Asian perception… more
Date: June 30, 1993
Creator: Hamilton, Nancy J
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Listing of a Species: Legal Definition and Biological Realities

Description: The 103d Congress will debate the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) 2 which expired on October 1, 1992. The Act has recently generated controversy, even though it passed in 1973 with virtually no opposition. Much of the debate concerns specific actions that would jeopardize particular species or populations. However, the controversy has been fueled by the discrepancies between two sets of legal definitions and the subtle biological realities that they approximate
Date: December 15, 1992
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Deep Seabed Mining: U.S. Interests and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea

Description: On July 29, 1994, the United States signed the Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982. This agreement substantially reforms the seabed mining provisions of the 1982 Convention, which the United States found objectionable. In signing the Agreement, President Clinton accepted provisional application of it which enables the United States to participate in the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and its organs … more
Date: April 7, 1995
Creator: Mielke, James E
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Individual Transferable Quotas in Fishery Management

Description: An individual transferable quota (ITQ) is an allocated privilege of landing a specified portion of the total annual fish catch in the form of quota shares. This differs from the traditional open-access approach to commercial fisheries. ITQs divide the total annual catch quota into smaller individual portions. ITQs are generally transferable, which means fishing vessel owners can sell their ITQ certificates or buy others' certificates or, in some cases, lease their quota shares depending on how … more
Date: September 25, 1995
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Overview of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE)

Description: Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) central contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The MTPE program provides scientific information so policymakers and scientists can formulate strategies to mitigate human impacts on Earth's environment, such as ozone depletion, deforestation, and possible global warming.
Date: March 1, 1995
Creator: Radzanowski, David P. & Garber, Stephen J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Japan's Banking Crisis: Causes and Probable Effects

Description: Japan's banking sector currently is carrying between $400 billion and $800 billion in non-performing loans that threaten the solvency of certain financial institutions and weaken the Japanese financial system. This problem is of interest to the United States because the stability of Japan's banking system affects the health of that nation's economy, its rate of economic growth, and international capital flows. This, in turn, may affect American exports to, imports from, and investments in Japan… more
Date: October 6, 1995
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Foreign Direct Investment in the U.S.: Staging a Comeback?

Description: After four years of decline, foreign direct investment in the United States showed sharp gains in 1993 and 1994. Japan remained the largest foreign direct investor in the U.S. economy in 1993, despite a sharp slow down in investments by Japanese firms compared with British firms, the second largest direct investors. The overall foreign direct investment position in U.S. businessesand real estate - or the accumulated book value of all foreign investments - increased by $20 billion in 1993, nearl… more
Date: January 4, 1995
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Questions of Privilege in the House

Description: The House of Representatives distinguishes between privileged business and questions of privilege. Privileged business consists of those bills, resolutions, and other matters that Members can bring up for consideration on the House floor. These matters are privileged to interrupt the regular order of business that is defined in the House's rules. Questions of privilege constitute one form of privileged business. Clause 1 of House Rule IX recognizes two kinds of questions of privilege: questions… more
Date: April 28, 1998
Creator: Bach, Stanley
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Foreign Assistance and Commercial Interests: The Aid for Trade Debate

Description: With the end of the Cold War and of a period during which foreign assistance was motivated frequently by East-West security and political considerations, a debate has emerged over setting a new foreign aid rationale. The debate has included calls advocating a much more direct use of America foreign assistance to support U.S. commercial interests, especially for programs administered by the Agency for International Development (AID). Proponents assert that the active promotion of the U.S. trade … more
Date: May 24, 1993
Creator: Tarnoff, Curt & Nowels, Larry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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